Word Origin & History

bush "many-stemmed woody plant," O.E. bysc, from W.Gmc. *busk "bush, thicket" (cf. Du. bos, Ger. Busch). Influenced by or combined with cognate words from Scandinavian (cf. Dan. busk) and O.Fr. (busche "firewood," apparently of Frank. origin), and also perhaps Anglo-L. bosca "firewood," from M.L. busca (whence It. bosco, Fr. bois), which also was borrowed from W.Gmc. In British colonies, applied to the uncleared districts, hence "country," as opposed to town (1780); probably from Du. bosch, in the same sense, since it seems to appear first in former Du. colonies. Meaning "pubic hair" (especially ...of a woman) is from 1745. To beat the bushes (mid-15c.) is a way to rouse birds so that they fly into the net which others are holding, which originally was the same thing as beating around the bush (see beat).